[LDB]

If you are not in a position to go 30 days without a paycheck expediting is probably not the best career for you to consider. We are regularly asked about switching companies and slow times and income projections and numerous other things.

Right now we're in a slow time. Rather than being predispatched or a few hours between load offers it could be a day or three. Trucks rarely break down at the best time and most often it's the worst time. Murphy finds something to sabotage on a regular basis and not at good times.

Changing carriers will cause you one of the longest delays in pay and when it's slow it's the "solution" so many think of and turn to. You've got a week at least to get settled out of the old carrier and into orientation with the new carrier and perhaps a couple of weeks. Once you get into orientation and complete those days you've got another day or three waiting on that first load. Once you run the load and submit paperwork it's another couple of weeks until the first payday. All told, a carrier change is a 3 to 5 week span with no paycheck. When it's slow like now that's even tougher to survive without reserves.

Expediting is a great career. There is a lot of freedom and autonomy. There can be a good living. The other side of that coin is there are slow times like now. Without having reserves to cover these times you won't succeed. Without reserves you won't survive when the truck goes down and you are out of work for 7-10 days and have a large bill to pay whether it's repair shop or motel. Without reserves you can't afford to change carriers and take the weeks without pay. Without reserves you can't afford to pay the piper (Murphy) when he calls.

Leo Bricker, owner trucks 3034, 4958
OOIDA 677319
73's K5LDB
Highway Watch Participant, Truckerbuddy
EO Forum Moderator 1+ Years of Service
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[Broompilot]

I would not have made it in this business without reserves, I took the advice of many including LBD on this site. Things did not work out as planned and had to find another carrier ASAP. Without a savings account to back me up I would have either of had to borrow against my credit cards to bridge me or just let my bills go overdue. Either would have been a diasaster. You will not survivie in this business borrowing your way out of circumstances, new carrier, truck break down, loss of income out of your control..... Once maybee but Murphy's gona get you two more times most likely.

The new carrier worked out much better than I had planned on so I almost imm, recouped everything I had lost in income that I had projected with the old carrier. Things just worked out well, and thank goodness that was last January and not this one as this year it is much slower, at least for me.

[geo]

some people may hate me for what i'm going to say , if you are retired from someplace like military , autoplant's etc that is a good way to go as you always have some money coming in no matter what
if it wasn't for being retired usn sometime this would have been real hard like in 1994 where everything was slow for the whole year alot of people had a hard time making it
also if kid's are gone also help's make it or if you run single the wife has a good job that will make it easier on ya to
like some one side take a long time to think of this
when i drove for fedexcc for 11 years i avg a run every 2.5 days
more or less

and there certain area's a single driver should stay away from
anything pass miss river and going west, and fla
but there are somereason to change that when money is right so take money and run than worry about getting back in area you should stay in